GRAFTON — A 43-year-old Grafton man who authorities were concerned might be armed and dangerous was taken into custody and arrested after a large-scale police operation descended upon his rural Riddle Hill Road farm.
Seamus Murphy, who was wanted on multiple outstanding warrants out of Merrimack County, is currently being held in jail in Boscawen, N.H., where he faces multiple counts of felon in possession of a firearm, possessing explosives and driving as an habitual offender.
A police operation involving 30 officers from the U.S. Marshals Service — including members of a special tactical unit — 10 deputies from the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office and members of New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force took Murphy into custody without incident on Friday, Nov. 7, Merrimack County Sheriff Paul Croft said.
“This is a classic example of local law enforcement being able to work with our federal partners. At the end of the day, it was a successful operation. We got a bad person off the street. Nobody got hurt. That’s what we all get paid to do,” Croft told the Valley News.
Authorities seized multiple firearms along with homemade “ghost gun” parts, body armor, explosive devices and ammunition, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Murphy’s previous offenses include felon in possession of a firearm, escape and multiple convictions involving controlled substances and narcotics, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Croft said they had been searching for Murphy, who U.S. Marshals described as a “self-proclaimed sovereign citizen,” for “a couple months” when information led them to the rural farm in Grafton County (county sheriffs have statewide jurisdiction).
“The warrants were out of Merrimack County Superior Court,” Croft explained about why Merrimack deputies and not Grafton County deputies were involved in apprehending Murphy.
“Sovereign citizen” is an anti-government ideology in which adherents contend they are not subject to federal or local laws. Grafton has been a long been a center of the “free state” movement whose members subscribe to an extreme form of libertarian philosophy.
Grafton residents contacted by the Valley News, who asked that they not be identified, said that Murphy generally keeps to himself and has not been among the town’s high-profile members of the free state movement.
During “surveillance,” Croft said Merrimack deputies learned that Murphy “had the potential of being a dangerous individual.” They reached out to U.S. Marshals “to get involved with us” because they have expertise to handle potentially volatile situations, he said.
U.S. Marshals’ tactical officers took on the job of surrounding the property. Once Murphy surrendered without incident, the sheriff’s deputies moved to execute search warrants, which resulted in the seizure of weapons, explosive materials and devices, and various grades of ammunition, Croft said.
Murphy was located at 386 Riddle Hill Road in Grafton. Town tax records show the nearly 23-acre property is owned by Samantha Grunewald.
On Friday, Grunewald said by telephone she is Murphy’s wife and they have seven children. He earns a living as an independent contractor and they operate a small farm, raise pigs and cows, and sometimes offer fresh milk for sale.
Grunewald said the authorities’ description of her husband as a so-called sovereign citizen “is not accurate … I’m not sure where this came from or why it started.”
“He’s an American citizen,” she said.
She said she and the children were driving home at the time police descended upon their property and were told by police to stay away while the operation was in progress.
“We were on our way home when they called us and told us we couldn’t come home,” she said. “So we drove around all night waiting to come home.”
When she eventually returned to their farm, Grunewald said she found “all the animals out because they unplugged the electric fence.”
“Police came in, wrecked my house, my garage and stole my husband,” Grunewald said.